Down the rabbit hole...[Open]

"Great, two ninjas in my village and they both need a place to stay." Wuark would murmur.

Wuark wasn't a fan of chakra. He knew that it drove people to madness and despair. He had it in him to just tell the two ninja where the nearest inn was in the city so that they can stay there.

However Wuark also looks at how they too have come to the village, maybe they wanted to find redemption for their past sins, or maybe they were really just wanting to see the world, or maybe they were both murderers who just killed for sport. He was conflicted.... but he remembered when he had no place to stay when he first arrived.

"There is an inn about 2 miles east of here. Its small but if you just need a place to rest they might have rooms available. However recently there have been many people AND ninja coming to the village, much like yourselves; so they might not have a room available...." wuark would say, pausing for a bit before continuing.

"....but my room is just a floor above this here well. Its small but you are welcome to stay for a few nights if you need your bearings...." he would pause again. His heart was racing fast. He knew that it was the right thing to offer these two young people a place to stay but still went against his better judgement.

"....as for sparring with you Kuro. As long as no chakra is involved I don't mind a good scrap. That is my only rule."

Kuro's face went into a blank stare when Lucian asked about somewhere to sleep. "Uh... I was just... Gonna sleep wherever I started to pass out first. I... It's been awhile since I slept inside a building." Kuro would awkwardly start to look at the ground before snapping himself back into focus as Waurk spoke up. His face would steadily light up as he began to offer a spot in his room. "All right! Thanks Waurk! I'm poor as dirt so I can't afford a room at an inn! You're officially my favorite person in this village!" Kuro's joyful cheeriness would freeze however when he heard the words 'no chakra'.

"N... No chakra?" His face would start to partially melt, getting drippy as if he was sweating heavily and his expression would look rather distressed. "B-but that's how I do the things I do... with water jutsu... and summoning adorable friends..." Kuro would sigh and take a deep breath, his face becoming solid. "I guess... I could TRY to not use chakra. My body is all weird being made of water... Maybe I can do something with it I haven't thought of yet." Vixie would step up to Wuark and gently rub her head against his leg to say 'Thank you', before returning to Kuro's side. "Anyways... Thanks a lot for the room. Vixie and I won't take up much space. We're used to sleeping in trees and stuff."

While Kuro responded to rather cheerly to Wuark, Lucian remained silent. Sure, he was listening it would be rude not to. Though, as he listened he also thought. He thought of the options laid out before him. He could stay in an inn or a stranger's home. Of course the right thing to do would be to stay in a hotel of some sort. However, the polite thing to do was to accept Wuark's gracious offer. With Kuro falling silent Lucian realized it was his turn to speak.

Right or polite? Which one...which one....?

"Thank you for the kind offer Wuark," Lucian replied carefully. "However, I would not want to intrude on your home. It is not my place to do so. I will find somewhere to sleep. Surely it would not be too comfortable with three people sleeping there."

Great job, you probably just insulted him. Top notch work right there.

"If you two wish to spar I would be more than willing to observe. One can learn a lot from simply watching," Lucian added on in hopes of dispelling any awkwardness he may have caused. As a rule the genin did not enjoy being a burden on others as it was, in his opinion, rude. Such was his upbringing, independence above all else.

Would they actually spar right here? Right here in the street?

"Hmm. Very well Kuro. You and your fox are more than welcome to sleep in my area. Its no palace but it will fill your needs." Wuark would reply to Kuro.

However Wuark would take a large step back when he saw the fox run up to him. He knew that it was probably nothing, but none the less he reacted by stepping back.

"mmm yeah sorry about that. Force of habit." he would say. If the fox continued to approach him like she did before he would just stay there and let her rub up against his leg. If not Wuark would be relieved but smile towards the ninja, letting him know that everything was still already.

"Hmm, now about your problem." He would go look towards Lucian now. Surely he didnt know if he offended the ninja nor he didnt want the ninja running off to the officials if he was. So he thought he would try to compromise with him.

"I don't want you think that you are not welcome to stay. You are very welcome to stay at my home tonight if you, like our water blob friend, is dirt poor. There is no trouble and Im sure we can find some way to give you a private space" HE would say, then pausing for a minute, putting his head down to think a  bit.

"...but if you insist Ill show you to that small inn I was talking about. I will take you to as many inns necessary in order for you to find a place to stay. Do we have a deal."

Wuark would then look again towards Kuro. "No chakra. That is right. Those are my rules. You see unlike you I am not a ninja in this village. I don't think it would be fair for to use a substance that I don't have access too in a fair fight. Right?" He would reply to Kuro. Then he would pause again. Thinking about how Vretiel might have handled this situation.

"But the ninja world, well, it is not fair at all. If you feel so adamant about using chakra. Then by all means." He would smile towards kuro.

"Now. How about we get a move on. Its getting late in the day and this pale is starting to get heavy."

That was a queue for Komi, the owl who suddenly then stopped looking at what she was hoping to be her next meal and swooped down to Wuark.

"Now, now, they are going to be our GUESTS tonight... not our dinner.. got that?" Wuark told the flying beast."

If komi could roll her eyes she could, but she cant, so she didn't. She snatched the pale right out of Wuarks hands and flew into their house and set the water down in the kitchen on the sink. Of course the two have trained to do that several times over the course of the 3 years they have known each other. The owl didn't drop a single bit of water.

"Pesky bird. Sometimes she can just get on my nerves." Wuark would laugh and then continue. "Now shall we get going?"

Kuro would shake his head slightly and sigh. "No, no, you're my host. If you'd rather I didn't use chakra, then I'm going to resist using it as much as possible. Thos village is your home, so it's your rules when it comes to sparring and what not." Kuro smiled again and patted Vixie's head as she returned to him. He would then remember something that he could do to repay the kindness of having a place to sleep.

"Oh, by the way, since I don't have money, I'd like to repay you another way." Kuro would spread his arms and pull his Koukan coat out from within himself and back onto his body with Liquid Inventory. He then turned around to show off the design on the back. "If you ever run into someone wearing a coat like this and need a hand, tell them that you're my friend. My allies might not be quite as friendly as me, but they'll still help you out if you tell them you helped me out." Kuro then turned back towards his new friends and reabsorbed his coat. 

"Most of them are actually way stronger than me I think. In fact, you could probably argue that I'm kind of a terrible ninja. If it weren't for my ability to liquify, I probably would have died by now." Kuro chuckled and scratched his head. "Anyways, I'm always ready to go. I'm following you Wuark."

Nodding along with Wuark, Lucian considered his options one more time. He could impose on a civilian of Hoshigakure or he could find shelter elsewhere. Surely a few of the holy houses scattered throughout Hoshigakure would give him a place to stay. Even a prejudice against shinobi would not stop the religious people from doing good by a stranger at their door. Such was always the case with the Nazar clan. Though, was it true here? Time would no doubt tell.

Alas, manners dictate that I go with him for now.

"Sounds like a deal, Wurak," Lucian responded in turn. "I'll tag along and see how comfortable it would be with three people in a room. Privacy is not an issue for me. Mostly I worry for you two and your comfort. All the same, please lead the way."

With a flourish of his hands the genin signaled for the Hoshigakure native to lead the way. Naturally the man dropped his hands to his sides, but they did not remain idle. In fact, five blue strings of chakra dropped down from Lucian's hand and connected themselves to his puppet that still lay hidden in the shadow of the well. With a few twitches of his fingers the puppet whirred to life.

At first it sounded like a series of metallic clicking, but this soon passed replaced by a almost imperceptible whir. Like a body reanimated, Delito rose from where it sat. Standing at its full height now the puppet towered over all present looking at them with dead eyes. Sure, Lucian did not use Delito to fight all that often, but he did take pride in his craftsmanship. Delito had taken him a considerable amount of time to complete. Even now Lucian could remember each pieces he put in the puppet as if it were a part of himself.

"Shall we be off?" Lucian prompted hopefully.

Oh god, I hope I didn't scare them with Delito.....

"Thank you Kuro. That is very kind of you and I will surely keep that in mind." Wuark would respond to him with a short grin. These ninja seemed to be so far so good. Neither of them asked questions about his personal life nor did either of them accuse him of being a ninja.

With all three in agreement of the plan the rest of day began; the trio cautiously agreed to begin moving up to Wuarks home. When they started walking he noticed that Lucian was carrying with him a puppet.

Puppets were not seen too often in Hoshigakure. In fact Wuark never recalled ever seeing one in the flesh when he was in the hidden leaf village. He was fearful that the ninja had some specal jutsu that could be used to harm Wuark with. While they were walking Wuark would carefully ask.

"So.... is that a puppet you have there? They let you in with that?" Wuark would say, half joking a half serious at this point he didn't know who approved his free use of his puppet in the city. Surely the ninja would have to have a talk with his local district authority about the use of weaponized chakra conducting marionettes that could really do some damage.

Well, for now he seemed fine. As they got closer and closer to his home he then swapped his attention to Kuro. This is of course if Him and Lucian were not done talking about his puppet or got sidetracked by anything else.

If Wuark was allowed to speak to Kuro he would begin by communicating "so Kuro how do you enjoy the weather here. Do you find the humidity to your liking?" he would ask.

AS the communication would wear down Wuark would open the door to his small home:
the first thing that the two would notice would be the large hallow that was made inside the wall facing them. The scaffolding inside was bedded with some solf blankets and a few small trinkets for Komi to play with. That was Komi's hollow and she used it was a perch and a place to rest.

About a meter to the left of that stood a furnace that could be turned on by lighting a match and turning on the gas valve. The gas furnace would keep the place toasty while also being the main cooking area as a stove was on top. On that left wall would be a small kitchen. About 2 square feet of tile expanding outward would house a sink and some cabinets filled with some canned food, plates, and other small eating stuffs. The sink would have a small window with some curtains behind it. The window would face the village center but also to the left of that you could see the well. The window was opened as komi went through it. The pale where it was mentioned.

To the right of the duo was a living area with a couch, coffee table, and a few lamps. Going a bit further left would have a door leading into Wuarks room; then also another door would lead to small bathroom. In the middle of those two doors on the right wall would be another small guest bedroom that was almost just a narrow line with a twin sized bed in it.

"please. come in you two, and vixie. make yourselves at home." Wuark would say. He would stand by the door as his guests were let in.

Kuro would let out a long low whistle at the sight of the large metal man. "Nice. That thing's pretty intimidating. I know I wouldn't want to fight it... well maybe a little." He would continue following Wuark until he asked about the weather. "Well, the climate here is a lot different than back home that's for sure. I grew up in the frozen tundra. There was ice and snow everywhere. I had to keep bundled up so I didn't turn into an ice sculpture. This heat and stuff is kind of nice but also kind of draining. I'm not complaining though."

Kuro smiled and picked up Vixie as they entered the house, carrying his pet as he sat down on the couch. "Nice place! Reminds me of home before it got wrecked." Kuro started petting Vixie and sighed happily as he relaxed, enjoying the feel of a cushioned seat. He didn't completely relax however. There was a little something nagging at him in the back of his mind that he needed to do something important. He started moving the liquids in his body around as he tried to figure it out.

A thin smile spread across Lucian's face at the reaction to his puppet. Most definitely the hulking metal figure could come off intimidating and could, if he desired, be used to more sinister ends. However, in the eyes of the genin, his puppet was no weapon, though it did possess them, rather it was a piece of art. A piece or art he had constructed with his own two hands. And, furthermore, a testament to his clan's bloodline, a bloodline of steel.

"They did indeed allow me to keep it after no small amount of discussion and a fair amount of scrutiny," Lucian replied to Wuark. Getting Delito into the village had been quite the chore. He had had to reveal each and everyone of the puppet's mechanisms and explain how it worked. Yes, truly a pain.

"I am sure it would be an interesting match, Kuro, but, as I said before, I am not much of a fighter. And, even if I were, I'd refrain from using Delito here." The genin gestured over to the puppet with a laugh. " I'd be too worried about it getting damaged. Put too much work into him to have him getting all banged up."

With that out of the way Lucian would fall in behind both Kuro and Wuark following the pair to wherever Wuark led them. After a short walk the trio trailed by Delito arrived at what could only be Wuark's home. Stepping past the threshold Lucian was hit by the homey-ness of the apartment. He had not had felt such a  feeling since departing his clan's compound over a month ago. Perhaps he could make this work.

Walking further into the apartment, Lucian turned into the small living room area and settled himself at the far end of the couch. He then, with a few jerks of his fingers, made sure to have Delito move to the far corner of the room out of people's way before removing his chakra threads and allowing the metal behemoth to cease its movements. Taking a breath he took in how far he'd come.

"You know what Wuark, I think I'll take you up on your offer." Lucian stated rather suddenly as if his mind had just been made up. "Where would you like us to stay?" 

Lucian was, if nothing else, reasonable. The apartment before him was the same, if not better due to the company, as a room he would get at an inn. Yes, he could stay here and hopefully not impose too much on Wuark.

So much for roughing it on the streets.

"I would assume so. This city does like to keep its citizens safe from all outside forces. I would say that our defenses coupled with our location in the world have kept us undetected for so long. Of course that it just a guess." Wuark would reply to Lucian as he explained how he was able to get his hulking puppet into the city limits. After a brief pause he would continue with his reply.

"It is intresting that you put so much care into your work. Do you not see your creation as a weapon?" Wuark would follow up. After Lucian had replied to Kuros' follow up question he was curious as to how the man felt about his puppet. After all it was a definition of character; Wuark could not deny that the puppet did make him somewhat uncomfortable and Lucians response would of course either enhance those fears or be a first step in making those fears subdue.

His attention would then move over to Kuro as his reply to Wuarks question about the weather here. "Oh certainly I would bet that the humidity here would have the opposite effect that it did in your home town. Its amazing how you were able to survive there as a child..." Wuark knew that children could be handful sometimes and for a hozuki like Kuro living in a frozen tundra would be even harder; one wrong move or one childish mistake could have ended his life very quickly. Wuark would continue " and yes, complaining does not change the circumstances that any one person is in; only the mans response to what it out of his control is a true representation of their character." He would say as they were about to enter the door.

When the trio finally got into the door it would be Kuro that would jump onto  the couch and speak first. He spoke mostly about how his home was destroyed which definitely defined the conversation at that point for him. "Oh no.." Wuark would say in a genuinely concerned tone, after a brief pause to gather his thoughts he would continue... "May I ask you what happened to your home?" Wuark would inquire. He was curious about his origins, hopefully not to a fault, but since Kuro had opened with that conversation starter Wuark would just have to ask him. Maybe that was why he was traveling the world Wuark would presume.


Wuarks attention would return to Lucian who had gratefully removed the strings from his puppet and placed him at the far end of the couch. He would reply to him of course which in turn would also reply to Kuro as well.

"Like I said, Lucian, you are more than welcome  to stay here. I have a cot that I used when I was first moving in here in my closet. Ill go get it out. Kuro would you and your fox mind sleeping in the guest bedroom?" Wuark would point to the door that led to that room. "It has a bed and a lamp in it that you are more than welcome to use." Wuark would smile to the young ninja. He did not want to have vixie in the same room as Komi, his owl, for the night. Its when Komi is most active and although Komi is well trained she was still a beast of nature and didn't want Komi to do anything reckless.

"Lucian. Please, take my room for tonight. I'll sleep in the living room on the cot with my owl; that way she can be comforted by my presence and I can help her if she needs anything. Before we head to bed we can put some new sheets on the bed." He would say to Lucian. Wuark knew for several reasons more that was the best course of action.

Wuark would take a look over to komi, the owl who was now fast asleep inside her hollow in the wall. "Sigh, Wuark would say, the owl is definitely more active during the night hours. Just let her sleep." He would say his two guests. AS he was speaking those works Wuark would go over to the water pale, put some water into a kettle, and place that kettle onto the furnace. AS the three would continue their conversation Wuark would kindly as the trio if they would like some tea.

"Please, would either of you care for some tea? Hot or iced? You are my guests and as somebody who believes in practicing Xenia I can only offer you the best I have." He would ask the two as he pulled out some black tea from one of his cabinets as well as three glasses; he would anticipate the two ninja would for sure like some tea. He would take the tea and put into the kettle and let the natural flavors seep into the warming water. It would take about 2 minutes for the water to heat up.

While he was waiting for the tea to finish he would lean on the wall next to Komi. He would then ask Lucian another question. "So Lucian, where are you from and why did your travels bring you to this wonderful city?"